Here’s a news item that caught my eye on 17 December 2010.
Quote1
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A White House panel said on Thursday the controversial field of synthetic biology, or manipulating the DNA of organisms to forge new life forms, poses limited risks and should be allowed to proceed. … The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues “concluded that synthetic biology is capable of significant but limited achievements posing limited risks. … Future developments may raise further objections, but the commission found no reason to endorse additional federal regulations or a moratorium on work in this field at this time.” …
Comment1
This is a standard utilitarian approach to ethics: to consider the nett of pleasures and pains (in modern terms benefits and costs) when deciding if an act is moral. What is lacking here is anticipation – looking ahead to foresee that pleasures and pains could emerge from this new science, and then deciding which to permit or forbid. By the time the deed is done, it would be too late to forbid its doing. Ethics must stay ahead of technology, not bring up the rear when the genie is out of the bottle.
Quote2
The 13-member panel of scientists, ethicists and public policy experts was created by [US President Barack] Obama last year. Its first order of business was to consider the issue of synthetic biology after the J. Craig Venter Institute announced in May it had developed the first self-replicating bacteria cell controlled by a synthetic genome. Those opposed to Venter's techniques said the discovery was tantamount to “playing God.” … Announcing the creation of the “first synthetic cell,” lead researcher Craig Venter said at the time it “certainly changed my views of the definitions of life and how life works.” But the commission said Venter’s team had not actually created life, since the work mainly involved altering an already existing life form. …
Comment2
What is life? That is one question. The commission discounts “altering an existing life form” as creating life. Venter does not say what his new view of life is. Nor are we told what are the implications of "life".
Comment3
A second question arising from this quote is: What is the meaning of the phrase “playing God?” Life is created by God. So goes the Judaeo-Christian belief. Thus, if man can create life, then man has done something that thus far has been done only by God. Is there also a claim that only God can create life? Or can the status “God” be claimed by any entity that can create life?
Quote3
“We are disappointed that ‘business as usual’ has won out over precaution in the commission’s report,” said Eric Hoffman, biotechnology policy campaigner for Friends of the Earth and of the signatories. “Self-regulation equates to no regulation.”
Comment4
Generally, we trust individuals to regulate their own moral behaviour. We do not consider this to be “no regulation”. Thus, the claim that “self-regulation equates to no regulation” is simply not true. The question here is: Can scientists self-regulate? Or do they believe science is an amoral activity, and therefore exempt from regulation of any kind?
END
Friday, 17 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
A new insight for philosophy cafe
I recently completed my best work to date: the formulation of an instrument to address any question whatsoever. Here's the basic concept. All questions fall into one or more of seven generic question forms, each of which can be addressed with an algorithm. The set of seven question forms and their associated algorithms enable us to address any question whatsoever.
Eager to test my creation, I asked several of my philosophy cafe regulars to try it out. They were nice enough to agree, and we gathered in a food court to do the needful. After some chit-chat, we began the experiment.
The two questions they tossed at my newly created instrument were: "Is a red apple a green apple?" and "Can a thing be also not a thing?" They said these were intended to stress test the instrument. When it produced the answers "no" and "no", the testers' reaction was less than enthusiastic. They seemed dismayed that the answers were what they were, and that the answers were so quickly arrived at.
I have long known that people like to jump to conclusions, with little or no concern for sound arguments supporting those conclusions. The work that needs to be done here is to slow their thinking down and to make them give due regard to supporting arguments.
This experience awakened in me a new insight. People interested in philosophy are reluctant to reach conclusions, regardless the supporting arguments. Certainly this is what I find in published philosophy -- endless hairs being split, and endless complications being introduced, with no end in sight. The work that needs to be done here is to persuade philosophers that answering one question does not entail the demise of all questions. There will be other philosophically interesting questions for us to examine.
The experience also makes me wonder about whether or not to resume my philosophy cafe sessions. Is there now no point in resuming it, or is there now an additional point in resuming it? What would Don Quixote say?
END
Eager to test my creation, I asked several of my philosophy cafe regulars to try it out. They were nice enough to agree, and we gathered in a food court to do the needful. After some chit-chat, we began the experiment.
The two questions they tossed at my newly created instrument were: "Is a red apple a green apple?" and "Can a thing be also not a thing?" They said these were intended to stress test the instrument. When it produced the answers "no" and "no", the testers' reaction was less than enthusiastic. They seemed dismayed that the answers were what they were, and that the answers were so quickly arrived at.
I have long known that people like to jump to conclusions, with little or no concern for sound arguments supporting those conclusions. The work that needs to be done here is to slow their thinking down and to make them give due regard to supporting arguments.
This experience awakened in me a new insight. People interested in philosophy are reluctant to reach conclusions, regardless the supporting arguments. Certainly this is what I find in published philosophy -- endless hairs being split, and endless complications being introduced, with no end in sight. The work that needs to be done here is to persuade philosophers that answering one question does not entail the demise of all questions. There will be other philosophically interesting questions for us to examine.
The experience also makes me wonder about whether or not to resume my philosophy cafe sessions. Is there now no point in resuming it, or is there now an additional point in resuming it? What would Don Quixote say?
END
A new life form found
Source: The Straits Times, 4 December 2010, p.A18
Headline: Bacterium in US lake unlike any other known life form
Quote1
WASHINGTON: All life on Earth ... requires the element phosphorus as one of its six essential components. But now researchers have uncovered a bacterium that ... has replaced phosphorus with its toxic cousin, arsenic. "What we've found is a microbe doing something new," said scientist Felisa Wolfe-Simon, ... who made the ground-breaking discovery at California's Mono Lake. ... "We've cracked open the door to what's possible for life elsewhere in the universe. And that's profound," [said Dr Wolfe-Simon]. ...
Comment1
A single incident of X is sufficient to prove that X is possible -- because it has happened. A single incident on earth implies nothing for the rest of the universe. It is not profound.
Quote2
Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies [said]: "It defies logic to think she [Dr Wolfe-Simon] found the only example of this kind of unusual life. Quite clearly, this is the tip of a huge iceberg." ...
Comment2
Someone enters a darkened room 1,000 times and each time emerges with a white ball. These experiences lead him to declare that all balls are white. On the 1,001st expedition into the darkened room, he emerges with a black ball. It is logical to then declare: "A ball is possibly black." It is not logical therefrom to declare: "There is here a roomful of black balls." Doing that would commit the Fallacy of Hasty Generalisation.
Quote3
The discovery could also have a major impact on space missions to Mars and elsewhere looking for life. The experiments on such missions are designed to ferret out the handful of chemical elements and reactions that have been known to characterise life on earth. Scientists are now asking if the searches should be widened. -- Washington Post, AFP, NYT.
Comment3
Up until this discovery, all life on earth has had six essential components, including phosphorus. From this observation, we concluded that these six components are necessary for life, even equivalent to life -- which is why the hunt for extra-terrestrial life involved searching for these "elements and reactions". This new discovery presents one instance of one element (phosphorus) being not necessary. The necessity of the other five components is still intact. Hence, any widening should go only as far as to include arsenic as a seventh essential component. No further.
END
Headline: Bacterium in US lake unlike any other known life form
Quote1
WASHINGTON: All life on Earth ... requires the element phosphorus as one of its six essential components. But now researchers have uncovered a bacterium that ... has replaced phosphorus with its toxic cousin, arsenic. "What we've found is a microbe doing something new," said scientist Felisa Wolfe-Simon, ... who made the ground-breaking discovery at California's Mono Lake. ... "We've cracked open the door to what's possible for life elsewhere in the universe. And that's profound," [said Dr Wolfe-Simon]. ...
Comment1
A single incident of X is sufficient to prove that X is possible -- because it has happened. A single incident on earth implies nothing for the rest of the universe. It is not profound.
Quote2
Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies [said]: "It defies logic to think she [Dr Wolfe-Simon] found the only example of this kind of unusual life. Quite clearly, this is the tip of a huge iceberg." ...
Comment2
Someone enters a darkened room 1,000 times and each time emerges with a white ball. These experiences lead him to declare that all balls are white. On the 1,001st expedition into the darkened room, he emerges with a black ball. It is logical to then declare: "A ball is possibly black." It is not logical therefrom to declare: "There is here a roomful of black balls." Doing that would commit the Fallacy of Hasty Generalisation.
Quote3
The discovery could also have a major impact on space missions to Mars and elsewhere looking for life. The experiments on such missions are designed to ferret out the handful of chemical elements and reactions that have been known to characterise life on earth. Scientists are now asking if the searches should be widened. -- Washington Post, AFP, NYT.
Comment3
Up until this discovery, all life on earth has had six essential components, including phosphorus. From this observation, we concluded that these six components are necessary for life, even equivalent to life -- which is why the hunt for extra-terrestrial life involved searching for these "elements and reactions". This new discovery presents one instance of one element (phosphorus) being not necessary. The necessity of the other five components is still intact. Hence, any widening should go only as far as to include arsenic as a seventh essential component. No further.
END
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
PIQUE
In this wondrous land of acronyms, here's one I thought up recently.
PIQUE stands for Philosophically Interesting Questions for You to Examine.
I think it's quite nice.
END
PIQUE stands for Philosophically Interesting Questions for You to Examine.
I think it's quite nice.
END
Philosophy of religion
The cartoon strip "Non Sequitur" in The Straits Times of 6 November 2010 has Danae setting up her own church. She says: "I'm taking the doctrines from all the mainstream religions into one church to end all the fighting over who has the most peaceful religion."
It's a nice thought. Her strategy is that if all the main ideas from the mainstream religions are all incorporated into a single religion, then there will be no more reason for dispute -- since everyone would now agree on everything.
It's a fashionable thing to say these days: that all religions basically teach the same thing. It's nice diplomacy. Is it good philosophy?
I do not see how it is possible to integrate the various doctrines of a single God (eg. in the Judaeo-Christian tradition), multiple gods (eg. in Hinduism) and no god (eg. Buddhism). Or the various doctrines of going to a single place after death, returning to this earth in another life form after death, and passing into oblivion after death. These doctrines are mutually contradictory.
The mind is a voluntary organ. We let into it, or keep out of it, whatever ideas we choose. Those who wish to believe in a God or gods or no-god are free to do so. Those who wish to believe in a great posthumous reward or punishment, or reincarnation, or oblivion are also free to do so. Whether by reason of argument, faith or revelation, they are free to believe whatever they will.
The trouble begins when three additional steps are taken:
1. The religious doctrines I believe in are true.
2. You must also believe in the same doctrines that I believe in.
3. You must behave as my beliefs say you should believe.
Avoid these three additional steps, and Danae's ambition of peaceful religions can be realised.
END
It's a nice thought. Her strategy is that if all the main ideas from the mainstream religions are all incorporated into a single religion, then there will be no more reason for dispute -- since everyone would now agree on everything.
It's a fashionable thing to say these days: that all religions basically teach the same thing. It's nice diplomacy. Is it good philosophy?
I do not see how it is possible to integrate the various doctrines of a single God (eg. in the Judaeo-Christian tradition), multiple gods (eg. in Hinduism) and no god (eg. Buddhism). Or the various doctrines of going to a single place after death, returning to this earth in another life form after death, and passing into oblivion after death. These doctrines are mutually contradictory.
The mind is a voluntary organ. We let into it, or keep out of it, whatever ideas we choose. Those who wish to believe in a God or gods or no-god are free to do so. Those who wish to believe in a great posthumous reward or punishment, or reincarnation, or oblivion are also free to do so. Whether by reason of argument, faith or revelation, they are free to believe whatever they will.
The trouble begins when three additional steps are taken:
1. The religious doctrines I believe in are true.
2. You must also believe in the same doctrines that I believe in.
3. You must behave as my beliefs say you should believe.
Avoid these three additional steps, and Danae's ambition of peaceful religions can be realised.
END
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
When billionaires give to charity
Recently, several billionaires started a campaign to get other billionaires to pledge their wealth to charitable causes. This, of course, made the headlines.
When ordinary folk pledge their spare cash to charities, that is one thing. But when people whose individual wealth dwarfs the GNP of some countries want to give billions to charities, that is another thing.
In principle, it is the responsibility of a nation's government to look after the its poor, its illiterate, and its homeless. A government should not (but many do) abdicate this responsibility, leaving it to various charities to perform this function. If wealth of such magnitude becomes easily available to charities, that makes it so much easier for governments to ignore their responsibility.
More importantly, individuals do not have the political mandate to set the national agenda; only governments have that mandate. If these billionaires must give their money away, they should hand it over to the respective governments to dispense to their poor, illiterate and homeless citizens.
But there is a more basic question to ponder: Why must one become so rich?
Every person has the right to make a living, but this should not extend to crowding all others out of the jungle in the process. One should leave room for others to exercise their right to make a living as well. But, somehow, the quest for wealth recognises no limit.
Now some are perhaps finding their immense wealth a tad embarrassing. It's about time.
END
When ordinary folk pledge their spare cash to charities, that is one thing. But when people whose individual wealth dwarfs the GNP of some countries want to give billions to charities, that is another thing.
In principle, it is the responsibility of a nation's government to look after the its poor, its illiterate, and its homeless. A government should not (but many do) abdicate this responsibility, leaving it to various charities to perform this function. If wealth of such magnitude becomes easily available to charities, that makes it so much easier for governments to ignore their responsibility.
More importantly, individuals do not have the political mandate to set the national agenda; only governments have that mandate. If these billionaires must give their money away, they should hand it over to the respective governments to dispense to their poor, illiterate and homeless citizens.
But there is a more basic question to ponder: Why must one become so rich?
Every person has the right to make a living, but this should not extend to crowding all others out of the jungle in the process. One should leave room for others to exercise their right to make a living as well. But, somehow, the quest for wealth recognises no limit.
Now some are perhaps finding their immense wealth a tad embarrassing. It's about time.
END
Friday, 30 July 2010
Investigating Inception
Here's a quick post on the movie that so many commentators are raving about: Inception.
It's a great action movie, set in five different locales: Reality, and four increasingly deeper dream levels, each identified by a different physical setting (airplane, van, hotel, ice, beach). The dream levels are achieved by the simple plot device of declaring it to be so. Inception is really no different from any typical James Bond action movie set in several exotic parts of the world. The only difference is that instead of storyboarding the shifts as travelling across the globe, it is storyboarded such that the shift is achieved by entering a deeper level of dream. Neat trick.
Now for the dreams. The characters in the movie enter a shared dream in a location designed by an architect. We have no ordinary experience of people sharing dreams, but I suppose we can stipulate that this is possible with some (undefined) technology (which the characters in the movie have somehow mastered).
However, we do experience solo dreams, and even occasionally a dream in a dream. But notice that our (unconscious) attention is always on only one level of dream at any one time. When we are in the first level of dream, we are not aware we are tossing and turning in our beds. When we are in our dream within a dream, we are not aware that we are already in a dream -- we are engrossed in the third reality. In short, we do not dream simultaneously at several levels -- but that is what happens in the movie. Well, perhaps we can also stipulate that this is possible with some (undefined) technology (which the characters in the movie have somehow mastered -- but I do wonder how the "victim" has also mastered this skill).
What really caught my attention is the movie's initial premiss: that the only way to plant an idea in someone's mind is through inception -- invading someone's subconscious via his dreams.
This is just not true.
Pedagogues and demagogues have always known how to plant ideas in others' minds. They do it through newspapers, magazines, books, television, speeches, pictures, conversations, hints, satires, plays, novels; indeed, through any medium they can find -- even movies. There is absolutely no need to resort to anything so mysterious, difficult and complex as inception.
It may be claimed that only inception will work if we want the victim to think that his new idea is original to him. This again is not necessary. In our ordinary experience, we come up with many ideas that we believe originate with us, but it's just that we do not know where the seeds of these ideas come from. It could easily be from any one or more of the media mentioned above.
In conclusion, Inception is not a masterpiece (as so many say it is). It is an ingeniously disguised action movie. We have been inceived.
END
It's a great action movie, set in five different locales: Reality, and four increasingly deeper dream levels, each identified by a different physical setting (airplane, van, hotel, ice, beach). The dream levels are achieved by the simple plot device of declaring it to be so. Inception is really no different from any typical James Bond action movie set in several exotic parts of the world. The only difference is that instead of storyboarding the shifts as travelling across the globe, it is storyboarded such that the shift is achieved by entering a deeper level of dream. Neat trick.
Now for the dreams. The characters in the movie enter a shared dream in a location designed by an architect. We have no ordinary experience of people sharing dreams, but I suppose we can stipulate that this is possible with some (undefined) technology (which the characters in the movie have somehow mastered).
However, we do experience solo dreams, and even occasionally a dream in a dream. But notice that our (unconscious) attention is always on only one level of dream at any one time. When we are in the first level of dream, we are not aware we are tossing and turning in our beds. When we are in our dream within a dream, we are not aware that we are already in a dream -- we are engrossed in the third reality. In short, we do not dream simultaneously at several levels -- but that is what happens in the movie. Well, perhaps we can also stipulate that this is possible with some (undefined) technology (which the characters in the movie have somehow mastered -- but I do wonder how the "victim" has also mastered this skill).
What really caught my attention is the movie's initial premiss: that the only way to plant an idea in someone's mind is through inception -- invading someone's subconscious via his dreams.
This is just not true.
Pedagogues and demagogues have always known how to plant ideas in others' minds. They do it through newspapers, magazines, books, television, speeches, pictures, conversations, hints, satires, plays, novels; indeed, through any medium they can find -- even movies. There is absolutely no need to resort to anything so mysterious, difficult and complex as inception.
It may be claimed that only inception will work if we want the victim to think that his new idea is original to him. This again is not necessary. In our ordinary experience, we come up with many ideas that we believe originate with us, but it's just that we do not know where the seeds of these ideas come from. It could easily be from any one or more of the media mentioned above.
In conclusion, Inception is not a masterpiece (as so many say it is). It is an ingeniously disguised action movie. We have been inceived.
END
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Philosophy cafe still interrupted
I have received some (not many) enquiries about philosophy cafe. My thanks to the enquirers.
I am currently working on a new format for the philosophy cafe. Also, I have not yet found a suitable new location to hold the sessions. (This is not the same as there is no suitable location to be found.)
When these two conditions have been met, I will inform readers as to the new location of my philosophy cafe sessions. As they say, please keep watching this space.
Thank you for your interest.
I am currently working on a new format for the philosophy cafe. Also, I have not yet found a suitable new location to hold the sessions. (This is not the same as there is no suitable location to be found.)
When these two conditions have been met, I will inform readers as to the new location of my philosophy cafe sessions. As they say, please keep watching this space.
Thank you for your interest.
Monday, 12 July 2010
Should Julie abort the baby?
This is my first post in a long time. I have been busy.
Last weekend, I took part in Raffles Institution's annual Inter-school Philosophy Dialogue as a facilitator. The group whose discussion I facilitated considered the following scenario.
Mariah is married to Johnny. Due to a gynecological problem, Mariah is unable to carry a foetus. The couple persuades Julie to be a surrogate mother for them. Julie agrees, as Mariah had once saved her daughter's life. The surrogacy procedure is successful. Julie becomes pregnant.
Four months later, a well-known Korean researcher discovers that foetuses develop binding unions with their prospective mothers while still in the womb. Alarmed by this, Mariah wants Julie to abort.
My group proposes several questions to discuss. By a popular vote, we decide on: Who has the right to decide whether to abort?
The case does not say if the couple's surrogacy contract (this necessarily exists) with Julie covers abortion, though it must necessarily cover birth delivery and handing over to Johnny and Mariah. We stipulate that the contract does not cover this contingency -- since if it does, then all we need to do is follow the contract terms.
We suggest that Mariah has the right to decide whether to abort, for two reasons. First, the foetus's DNA partly comes from her -- and not from Julie. Second, Mariah is the "employer" in the surrogacy contract -- which therefore gives her the right to make this decision.
It is suggested that Julie has the right to decide whether to abort, because of the binding union with the foetus. But has the union already formed? The case does not specify. Again, in a popular vote, we stipulate that the binding union between foetus and mother has not formed. Since no such union currently exists, Julie has no ground on which to claim the right to decide. Mariah has the right to decide whether to abort.
We consider the other branch: the bond has formed. There is nothing to say that a child is capable of forming only one binding union. Indeed, it is common knowledge that people (including adoptive children) are well capable of forming multiple binding unions. So, again, Julie does not have an overwhelming right to decide whether to abort. Mariah has the right to decide whether to abort.
We have answered the question -- through rational consideration. This is philosophy.
I ask the group (particularly the girls) if they are happy with the decision. Several say: That depends on whether I am in Mariah's situation or Julie's situation. I make the point that philosophy does not work like that. Rational thought does not guarantee outcomes that make the thinker happy -- or sad. Just right.
As we leave the discussion room (and proceed to lunch), I make another point: Nobody had even suggested that Johnny has any say in the matter. It's only about the women.
Now, isn't that interesting?
Last weekend, I took part in Raffles Institution's annual Inter-school Philosophy Dialogue as a facilitator. The group whose discussion I facilitated considered the following scenario.
Mariah is married to Johnny. Due to a gynecological problem, Mariah is unable to carry a foetus. The couple persuades Julie to be a surrogate mother for them. Julie agrees, as Mariah had once saved her daughter's life. The surrogacy procedure is successful. Julie becomes pregnant.
Four months later, a well-known Korean researcher discovers that foetuses develop binding unions with their prospective mothers while still in the womb. Alarmed by this, Mariah wants Julie to abort.
My group proposes several questions to discuss. By a popular vote, we decide on: Who has the right to decide whether to abort?
The case does not say if the couple's surrogacy contract (this necessarily exists) with Julie covers abortion, though it must necessarily cover birth delivery and handing over to Johnny and Mariah. We stipulate that the contract does not cover this contingency -- since if it does, then all we need to do is follow the contract terms.
We suggest that Mariah has the right to decide whether to abort, for two reasons. First, the foetus's DNA partly comes from her -- and not from Julie. Second, Mariah is the "employer" in the surrogacy contract -- which therefore gives her the right to make this decision.
It is suggested that Julie has the right to decide whether to abort, because of the binding union with the foetus. But has the union already formed? The case does not specify. Again, in a popular vote, we stipulate that the binding union between foetus and mother has not formed. Since no such union currently exists, Julie has no ground on which to claim the right to decide. Mariah has the right to decide whether to abort.
We consider the other branch: the bond has formed. There is nothing to say that a child is capable of forming only one binding union. Indeed, it is common knowledge that people (including adoptive children) are well capable of forming multiple binding unions. So, again, Julie does not have an overwhelming right to decide whether to abort. Mariah has the right to decide whether to abort.
We have answered the question -- through rational consideration. This is philosophy.
I ask the group (particularly the girls) if they are happy with the decision. Several say: That depends on whether I am in Mariah's situation or Julie's situation. I make the point that philosophy does not work like that. Rational thought does not guarantee outcomes that make the thinker happy -- or sad. Just right.
As we leave the discussion room (and proceed to lunch), I make another point: Nobody had even suggested that Johnny has any say in the matter. It's only about the women.
Now, isn't that interesting?
Friday, 14 May 2010
Beauty has no function in life?
This is a report of a philosophy café session held on 13 May 2010 in conjunction with date agency champagnejsg, at Tea Cosy in Plaza Singapura from 7.45pm onwards.
As usual, we choose our topic for the night by a popular vote. The topic is: Beauty has no function in life.
Often, we use the word “beautiful” to refer to things that are good or important. The claim here is that true beauty should exist for itself, rather than to serve some purpose. Beauty describes some ideal, such as a sunset.
Beauty can make one happy. Beauty can also be monetized eg. by models, actresses.
What if a depressed person sees a sunset? Would he or she consider the sunset beautiful? What if a loving couple see the same sunset? Would that sunset be beautiful? And not beautiful at the same time? What if there is a sunset which nobody sees? It makes nobody happy, can it be beautiful?
These questions are misleading. We are not asking if making one happy makes something beautiful. We are asking if being beautiful performs any function. Well, it does. It can make someone happy, it can be monetized. Beauty has a function.
The question is answered.
Regrettably, the question is answered too soon. There is not enough interesting discussion. The mistake is mine. I did not vet the question carefully enough to ensure it is a “rich vein” for philosophical discussion. In future, I must ensure the question for the night satisfies my three criteria of a philosophical question:
1. Science has not yet answered the question.
2. The question cannot be empirically answered.
3. The question must initially allow of several possible answers.
Oh well, live and learn.
Postscript for my regular philosophy café sessions: I have no update on the status of Nook café. So, temporarily, my philosophy café sessions will take a break, while I look around for a second venue. Please visit this blog for further news.
As usual, we choose our topic for the night by a popular vote. The topic is: Beauty has no function in life.
Often, we use the word “beautiful” to refer to things that are good or important. The claim here is that true beauty should exist for itself, rather than to serve some purpose. Beauty describes some ideal, such as a sunset.
Beauty can make one happy. Beauty can also be monetized eg. by models, actresses.
What if a depressed person sees a sunset? Would he or she consider the sunset beautiful? What if a loving couple see the same sunset? Would that sunset be beautiful? And not beautiful at the same time? What if there is a sunset which nobody sees? It makes nobody happy, can it be beautiful?
These questions are misleading. We are not asking if making one happy makes something beautiful. We are asking if being beautiful performs any function. Well, it does. It can make someone happy, it can be monetized. Beauty has a function.
The question is answered.
Regrettably, the question is answered too soon. There is not enough interesting discussion. The mistake is mine. I did not vet the question carefully enough to ensure it is a “rich vein” for philosophical discussion. In future, I must ensure the question for the night satisfies my three criteria of a philosophical question:
1. Science has not yet answered the question.
2. The question cannot be empirically answered.
3. The question must initially allow of several possible answers.
Oh well, live and learn.
Postscript for my regular philosophy café sessions: I have no update on the status of Nook café. So, temporarily, my philosophy café sessions will take a break, while I look around for a second venue. Please visit this blog for further news.
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